WaterSense and Your Business

WaterSense
The EPA’s Office of Water launched the WaterSense program in 2006. Modeled after the Energy Star program, a joint effort between the EPA and the Office of Energy, the WaterSense program is a collaborative initiative among the government, manufacturers and retailers to identify products that incorporate new technology to deliver water more economically and with minimized impact to the environment.

WaterSense seeks to make its initial mark in toilets and residential lawn care, where “the greatest opportunity exists to cut water waste, saving billions of gallons of water each year and millions of dollars in energy while at the same time protecting watersheds and ecosystems,” says Ben Grumbles, assistant administrator of the EPA’s Office of Water. Currently, the WaterSense label can be found on more than 35 high-efficiency toilet models that use less than 1.3 gallons per flush; many of the new models perform as well or better than older ones that operate under the previous standard of 1.6 gallons per flush.

Awarding the Label
“In the next 10 to 20 years, water is going to be seen as one of our most precious resources,” says Ann Marie Gebhart, director of Water Programs for Underwriters Laboratories (UL) in Northbrook, Ill., one of the organizations that independently tests and certifies each product that receives the WaterSense designation for efficiency and performance. “Anything that can be done to help conserve water benefits all of us.” As part of the voluntary program, UL not only tests products submitted by manufacturers seeking the WaterSense label, but it also re-tests on an annual basis to monitor ongoing compliance.

UL also tests plumbing components for health effects and ensures that items such as elbows comply with national standards and don’t allow lead, copper or mercury to leach into the drinking water. Recently, UL introduced the UL Plumbing Mark, a designation given to products in compliance with both the International Plumbing Code (IPC) and the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC).

The Next Wave
The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) sees the trends continuing toward systems that optimize water use, including waterless urinals or urinals with internal filters that may flush only a few times a day, according to Duane Huisken, IAPMO’s director of marketing and communications. “Showerheads, hot water heaters, they’re all going to be standard with lower flow to ensure that consumers have enough water without water rationing,” he says.

You should familiarize yourself with new, energy-efficient products that “still flush, still turn on and off, but make better use of the water that they use,” Huisken says. In addition to trade shows offered by local building departments, plumbers can find the UPC on IAPMO’s Web site where updates to the code are posted, as well.

By early 2008, the WaterSense program hopes to add its designation to faucets and sink fixtures. Currently, the federal standard for faucets allows for 2.2 gallons per minute. Specifications are underway to roll out new products that can reduce this flow to 1.5 gallons per minute, more than a 30 percent increase in efficiency. “Letting the hot water faucet run for five minutes uses as much energy as letting a 60-watt bulb run for 14 hours,” Grumbles says. The WaterSense team also is researching showerheads to identify models that deliver a high-quality shower but with more efficiency, aiming at saving 160 billion gallons of water each year.

By staying abreast of the EPA’s WaterSense program or other new standards, you can offer value to your customers. While fixing a leak, keep an eye open for old toilets or fixtures that could be replaced with more-efficient models that could save your customers money. “People who want to be green will want to be ahead of the curve,” Huisken says. “Strictly low-flow is a niche market that’s willing to pay more money. They’re typically a more affluent customer.”